I. August Building Materials Industry Prosperity Index
In August 2025, the Building Materials Industry Prosperity Index (MPI) stood at 101.2 points, remaining above the critical threshold and within the prosperity range. This marked a rebound of 6.4 points from July, though slightly lower by 0.2 points compared with the same period last year, indicating a month-on-month recovery in industry performance.
( Monthly Building Materials Industry Prosperity Index)
On the supply side, the Building Materials Industry Price Index fell below the threshold, while the Production Index stayed above it. Specifically, the Price Index registered 99.0 points, down 0.7 points from July; the Production Index reached 102.2 points, up 7.1 points from the previous month. Overall, building materials prices continued a modest downward trend with low-level fluctuations, while production activity strengthened compared with the previous month.
On the demand side, the Investment Demand Index and Industrial Consumption Index both exceeded the threshold and remained in the prosperity zone, while the International Trade Index fell below the threshold, entering the contraction zone. The Investment Demand Index recorded 101.0 points, up 7.1 points from July, indicating a mild recovery in investment activity. The Industrial Consumption Index rose to 102.5 points, up 4.8 points, reflecting improving demand from manufacturing industries that rely on building materials. In contrast, the International Trade Index dropped to 98.3 points, down 3.2 points from last month, showing a decline in foreign trade volume. In summary, August saw improvements in investment and industrial consumption demand, while international trade demand weakened.
II. MPI Influencing Factors and Market Outlook
■ Production recovery in building materials
In August, with extreme weather conditions such as high temperatures easing, demand in construction and related manufacturing sectors picked up, leading to faster production compared with July. With the exception of the clay and sand & gravel mining sector and the technical glass industry, production indices across other subsectors remained within the prosperity zone.
■ Slight retreat in building materials prices.
Among building materials subsectors, prices rose month-on-month in cement, insulation materials, and non-metallic mineral mining, three fewer than in July. Prices fell in concrete and cement products, wall materials, waterproofing materials, lightweight building materials, lime and gypsum, clay and sand & gravel mining, construction stone, technical glass, mineral fibers and composites, sanitary ceramics, and other non-metallic minerals. On a year-on-year basis, factory prices in clay and sand & gravel mining, construction stone processing, and mineral fibers & products continued to increase. Overall, prices in the building materials industry continued their low-level fluctuations.
■Market demand remains weak, with cautious outlook required.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, fixed asset investment nationwide grew by 1.6% year-on-year from January to July, down 1.2 percentage points from the previous month. Investment in construction and installation projects declined by 0.8% year-on-year. Meanwhile, production growth slowed or fell in sectors such as automobiles, solar cells, and electrical appliances. Demand for building materials remains weak.
Recently, State Council meetings emphasized the role of macro-control measures such as urban renewal projects to stabilize the real estate market, which is conducive to improving market expectations. However, given the continued supply-demand imbalance in the building materials market, industry enterprises should remain vigilant, closely monitor market dynamics, and plan production prudently.
Annotations：
1. Building Materials Industry Prosperity Index （MPI）mainly monitors the operation trend of building materials industry and has a strong function of prediction and early warning. When MPI is higher than 100, it indicates that the operation of building materials industry is in the prosperity range, and when MPI is lower than 100, it indicates that in the recession range.
2. The prosperity index of building materials industry (MPI) judges the operation trend of building materials industry from the supply side and demand side. The supply side is divided into price index and production index. The demand side is divided into investment demand index, industrial consumption index and building materials international trade index according to the actual impact of the demand field on the building materials industry.
3. The price index of building materials industry reflects the change trend of ex-factory price of building materials industry. The ex-factory price does not include the expenses, product profits and taxes incurred in the circulation of building materials products. The ex-factory price is different from the market price, for the changes of the two will affect each other and there is a time lag. There may be inconsistent change trends in a certain period of time.
4. The industrial production index of building materials reflects the change trend of industrial production of building materials, excluding price changes.
5.Investment demand index, reflecting the change trend of investment market demand related to building materials.
6.The industrial consumption index reflects the changing trend of industrial consumption demand related to building materials. Industrial consumption includes not only the internal and inter industry consumption of building materials industry, but also the consumption of building materials products by downstream industries.
7.The international trade index of building materials reflects the changing trend of international trade in building materials, which is mainly composed of export indexes of building ceramics and sanitaryware, building technology glass, building stone, glass fiber and composite materials, non-metallic minerals and other industries.
Editor: Zhang Hanwen
Reviewer: Shen Yulu, Li Yuemei
